1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a compact two-piece collapsible litter system capable of rapid assembly for transport of humans, animals or objects. The invention may be particularly applicable for use in transporting individuals who are injured, disabled and/or incapable of movement under combat and/or emergency conditions.
2. Description of the Related Technology
During combat, medical treatment facilities are typically located in a secure area separate from the battlefield. To receive medical care, the injured and wounded must be transported from the battlefield using conventional military issued litters. The survival and recovery of these individuals significantly depends upon extraction time; therefore it is desirable to design a litter that can be easily carried and quickly assembled under combat conditions to facilitate the extraction process and enable patients to more quickly obtain medical treatment.
Current U.S. military issued litter systems are heavy, bulky, often difficult to assemble and can be a substantial liability to the extraction process. These litter systems typically remain on transport vehicles during field exercises because of their prohibitive large weight and size. Therefore, litters are often not readily available to the military unit while on combat missions. Therefore, there exists a need to design a litter system capable of enabling more rapid extractions by designing a light weight, durable, load sustaining, compact, easily assembled, two-piece litter system to more effectively evacuate individuals who are injured in combat and/or emergency situations. Also, since two soldiers are required to carry a fully-assembled, loaded litter, it is possible to allow two soldiers to each carry a piece of the litter, when collapsed/dissembled.